Memories
by SanseiAme
Summary: Natsu has finally built up the courage to propose to Lucy. As he waits at her apartment for her to come back home, he thinks back on some of the things the two of them had been through. When they met, their first official mission, the fight with Phantom, their awkward misunderstandings, when he thought he lost her, the exact moment he fell in love with her...


Memories

**Author's Note: hey, guys! I hope you guys like this one. It's basically just a collection of NaLu moments from the series in Natsu's perspective…kinda. It's more like all of Natsu's feelings during each moment. I'm sorry if Natsu is a little OOC. I hope I did alright with it, though. I would appreciate it if you told me in a review!**

* * *

Natsu nervously tapped his fingers against the coffee table, fiddling with the small velvet box in his pocket. He was going to do it. He was finally going to do it. He was going to ask Lucy to marry him.

He was currently waiting at her apartment for her to come home. What was taking her so long? He'd been there for two hours, and his anxiety was growing with each passing second. He hoped, _prayed_ that she wouldn't be much longer. Because if she was, he was sure that he would be so nervous that he would have to chicken out and ask her another day. And he most definitely didn't want to put this off longer than he needed to. And the longer he continued to wait, the more he began to doubt himself. Did he _really_ want to do this? Was he _really_ in love with the woman?

* * *

"He was a real creep."

Those were the first words she said to him. He remembered looking up at her, instantly attracted to her voice. She was smiling the cutest smile he'd seen in a long time. "Thanks!" she said. He had absolutely no idea why she was thanking him. He didn't do anything. Well, anything that he was aware of, anyway. She held out her hand for him to shake once he got to his feet. "I'm Lucy. It's nice to meet you."

"Natsu," he said, taking her hand and giving it a light shake. He pointed to his Exceed. "And this is Happy."

"Aye!" said Happy, sitting on Natsu's shoulder. Lucy had been nice from the very beginning. She offered to pay for lunch, which he accepted with no hesitation. During their meal at the small café in downtown Hargeon, he couldn't help but feel an intense wave of pride as she rambled on and on about how she wanted to join Fairy Tail. To be honest, she really didn't look like a wizard at first sight. And she _definitely_ didn't look like someone that wanted to be a member of his guild. She seemed like too nice of a girl to be in Fairy Tail. But he had a feeling she was a lot stronger than she appeared to be. And he decided to ask her to come with him and Happy to Magnolia. But he was too busy eating at the time.

The look on her face was priceless when he told her about Igneel being a dragon. If he had known her better at the time, he probably would've laughed and teased her about it. He felt a surge of disappointment when she placed her payment on the table and stood up to leave.

He may have only known her for not even an hour, but he felt a connection with her, and he didn't want her to leave.

Later that night, after he'd saved her and a bunch of other girls from Bora, he felt a feeling of excitement when she accepted his offer and went to Magnolia with him. He knew from that moment on, the two of them would be great friends.

* * *

The first time he snuck into her house was two days after they met. He honestly wasn't expecting her to come out of the bathroom half naked. And that kick to the side of the face caught him completely by surprise. Mirajane had told him and Happy that Lucy got a place to live in, so they decided to pop in an say hello. All he was trying to do was be friendly. And then he got another kick in the face for finding and reading her novel. That second kick hit him under the chin, and made him bite his tongue. He had to admit, he was pretty surprised at how well she was able to knock him off his feet, in more ways than one.

"Look, I just moved in," she said irritably, resting her chin in her hand as she glared at him from across the table. "So I don't have anything to entertain guests. Just drink your tea and get out." That stung a little. She was so nice two days ago! He was a little caught off guard with how cold she was toward him.

Watching her summon Plue for the first time was cool, while watching her make a contract with the little Nikola was a little boring.

He felt a twinge of pride when he was able to trick her into being his partner so easily. That pride was gone in an instant once she told him they were going to be on a carriage for two and a half hours. "Hey, Natsu?" her heard her say over the blood rushing in his ears.

"Yeah?"

"I was just wondering why you chose me to be on your team?"

Well, that was an easy question. "Because…you seem like a nice person." He watched as her eyes widened slightly, a light blush on her cheeks, barely noticeable. But thanks to his sharp eyes, even with the bleariness of his motion sickness, he spotted it easily. He was originally just going to leave it at that, but he began to feel his own cheeks heat up. So he swiftly turned his head away to hide his flushed face. "But you're just so weird." Turning away so quickly caused a wave of dizziness to ripple through his skull, sounding a dreary moan from his lips. Feeling as if he were about to pass out, his heart pumped loudly in his ears, making it difficult to hear anything else, the exception being Lucy's scoff from the other side of the carriage.

* * *

During the Phantom Lord dispute, way back when, Natsu felt his heart clench with instant worry as he heard Gajeel and Aria talk about Lucy being held captive at their headquarters. For the first time, he was absolutely terrified that something would happen to his blonde friend, although he did an excellent job of hiding it, masking it with the determination to rescue her. He would never admit it to anyone, but that walk towards their headquarters was the most unnerving couple of minutes in his life. He couldn't deny the ache he felt in his heart. What if something happened to her, if someone hurt her? Oh, if she had even a _scratch_ on her body, there would be Hell to pay. As he and Happy got closer to the giant stone building, he picked up her scent. He may have only known her for a few weeks, but her smell of cherries and vanilla had been forever burned into his memory.

_Please be okay,_ he remembered thinking frantically to himself. Even though he wore a tough face, he was shaking nervously inside, repeating those three words over and over again like a mantra. _Lucy, please be okay._ As soon as he saw that blonde hair, several stories above, he broke out into a run. She was falling closer to the ground, and fast. He ran as fast as he could, hoping, _praying_ that he would be there to catch her. When he heard her scream his name, he pushed himself to run faster, calling out back to her. To be honest, he wasn't quite sure how he managed to catch her the way he did, although he wasn't complaining. Having his face shoved between her sizeable breasts wasn't all that bad.

That day was the first time he'd seen her cry, and it ultimately broke his heart. That was the moment he decided that he would everything he could from that point on to prevent her from crying again, to keep that smile – the smile that he loved so much – present on her face.

Several days later, when he, Happy, Gray, and Erza went to her house to check on her, his heart dropped into his stomach like a stone when Erza found that note. _She can't be leaving…_ After Lucy told them about her going back home just to set things straight with her father, he masked his incredible relief with annoyance. He really thought he was going to lose her. He couldn't help but feel embarrassed about how he'd jumped to conclusions, and Happy spilling the beans about him crying didn't help at all.

* * *

The day he asked Lucy to meet him in the park was…interesting. First of all, he had absolutely _no_ idea as to why he was blushing when he asked her. What did he have to be embarrassed about? He was just asking her to meet him in the park, at night, and advised her to come alone. It was an innocent request! And yet, he couldn't keep himself from turning red. When he thought about asking her, he was confident. But when he finally walked up to her and asked his question, a single thought ran through his head: _it's like I'm asking her out._ He mentally chided himself. He was _not_ asking her out, although he appeared to be. When he ran out of there, he went home and slammed his head against the wall. _You fucking moron,_ he said to himself. _Blushing about stupid thoughts in your head. Stupid, stupid, stupid._

He hadn't been at the tree for long when Lucy arrived. When he saw her, his breath caught in his throat and his heart beat went from steady to erratic in an instant without his consent. She was gorgeous, he couldn't lie. What bothered him was why she was wearing something so nice…and why it was making his heart go ballistic. But what utterly confused him was why she was asking all these weird questions, and _why_ she slapped him across the face without no warning at all and then ran off, leaving him bewildered and in pain. Her hand had left a dark red mark, and the left side of his face was stinging for the rest of the night. After being frozen in his place for a couple of minutes, his head still turned to the side, he lifted a hand to his cheek, furrowing his brows. He blinked once as he began to massage his throbbing face.

_Why'd she slap me…?_

* * *

During the whole Infinity Clock thing, he really thought he'd lost her when she merged completely with the Infinity Castle. After all that, after all the fighting, he'd lost her. He'd never felt like such a failure before. He failed to protect Lucy from being kidnapped, and he failed to save her. It still hurt him inside when he thought about it. And then Warren said that she, along with the rest of the clock pieces, would fly to some unknown corner of the kingdom. And when the whole thing was over, Lucy nowhere in sight, he feared that she had done exactly that; flown away to somewhere he would never see her again.

But then he smelled her.

She was close, and was getting closer fast.

His heart was pounding against his chest as he sprinted to catch her as she fell from the sky. He _had_ to catch her. He would never forgive himself if he didn't, if he allowed her to die. He felt his heart stop for a couple of seconds when he tripped. _No! Get back up! Now!_

"_Lucy!"_ he screamed as he leapt to catch her in his arms. Once again, he wasn't sure how he'd managed to land in such a position, with Lucy on top of him. But yet, he didn't care. She was alive. She was safe. That was all he cared about.

* * *

That day on Tenrou Island still haunted his dreams. He replayed the scene of her being brutally beaten deeper and deeper into the hard ground, and him being completely helpless and unable to do anything to stop it. He would never forget the look on her face.

_It's always more fun…when we're together._

That was the moment he was_ sure_ he'd fallen in love with her. And he fell _hard._

* * *

Natsu smiled to himself, his hand still fiddling with the small box in his pocket. He laughed at his stupidity, doubting his love for the most wonderful woman he's ever met. _I really am an idiot._ It was at that moment when his highly sensitive ears perked at the sound of the front door unlocking. He clutched the box tightly in his hand and stood up, taking long, deep breaths to steady his frantic heart. It was now or never. "Natsu?" said Lucy, her voice calm. She had long gotten used to his surprise visits, especially since they had started dating a year and half ago.

"Luce," he croaked, scolding himself immediately after. He let his voice shake. He cleared his throat. "There's, um… There's something I need to ask you."

Lucy looked at him, slightly caught off guard by his words. "Alright. What is it?"

Natsu swallowed. He'd begun to doubt himself again, but quickly recovered. _Now is not the time to chicken out,_ he said to himself. _You love her. Man up, and just do it!_ Listening to his confident conscience, he took a step toward his girlfriend, clearing his throat once more before he spoke. "Luce, I… I never knew I could feel this way. I never knew that my heart could beat so fast, or that I could melt because of a smile, or that a single glance could make me physically weak. I never knew that I could feel so strongly for someone…until I met you. When you're with me, I feel as if I can do anything. When you're gone, the only thing I focus on is how many more minutes I have to wait until I can see you again. Oh, and just putting it out there, I don't care how your hair looks. I don't care if you wear makeup or not. I don't care what clothes you wear. Because no matter what, you'll still be the same drop-dead gorgeous, brown eyed, blonde celestial wizard that means the world to me.

"I love everything about you," he continued, feeling his confidence boost at her blushing complexion. "You're smart, strong, brave, funny, and incredibly beautiful. Your eyes make it so easy to get lost. Your hair is like silk, and it makes me wanna run my hands through it every day. And you may not think so, but to me, you are _definitely_ one of the strongest girls in Fairy Tail. And it baffles me how someone as amazing as you fell in love with someone like me. Because of that, I wake up every day and think that I'm the luckiest man alive. You are so perfect in every way, inside and out, and that is exactly why I have fallen desperately in love with you. So…" He reached into his pocket and pulled out the velvet box, lowering himself to one knee. Lucy watched him do so with wide eyes, her breath caught in her throat. "Lucy Heartfilia…" He took a deep breath, gulped, and opened the box, revealing the loveliest diamond ring she'd ever seen. "Will you marry me?"

Lucy didn't answer, didn't even move. She just stared down into his onyx eyes, the blush on her face now a deep red. After a long, silent pause, Natsu squirmed nervously under her gaze. "Um, Luce?"

Her eyes widened slightly, finally awakened from the trance she was under a moment prior. "Hmm?" she uttered.

Natsu swallowed and chuckled weakly. "This…is the part where you say something," he murmured, looking up at her with scared, hopeful eyes.

"Oh," she squeaked softly. Natsu held his breath as he awaited her answer. When she smiled, an unexplainable feeling fluttered in his chest. As tears of happiness began to gather in her eyes, she nodded slowly. "Yes," she whispered, a small laugh escaping her lips. "Yes, of course!" Natsu bowed his head as he released the breath he'd been holding, feeling an extremely heavy weight lift off his shoulders. He laughed as he looked back up. He removed the ring from the box and set it down, holding out his hand. Lucy gently placed her left hand into his, allowing him to slide the ring onto her finger. Lifting himself back to his feet, wrapping his arms around his waist as he did, he lifted her off her feet in a tight hug.

"I love you," he said into her neck, pulling her closer to him. "I love you so much."

Lucy giggled. "You've made that very clear," she said as he sat her down. She cupped his face and pulled his face down, pushing her lips to his in an elated kiss. When they pulled away, they rested their foreheads against each other. "I love you, too, Natsu. That was a lovely speech, by the way. It was probably the sweetest thing you've ever said to me."

Natsu scoffed. "It's your fault. Just look at what you do to me, turning me into a mushy romantic." Lucy grinned and lifted herself up on her toes, kissing him once more. Oh, she couldn't wait to tell the girls!

* * *

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